Someone Like You
by chessqueen
Summary: COMPLETED. Future fic. It's been ten years since high school and Marissa wonders what her life would have been like had she married Ryan.
1. Default Chapter

TITLE:  Someone Like You

AUTHOR:  chessqueen

DISCLAIMER:  The O.C. is owned by Josh Schwartz and a whole lotta people I don't know over at Fox Television.

SUMMARY:  Future fic.  It's ten years after high school and Marissa finds herself wondering what her life would have been like had she married Ryan.

_____________________________________________________________________

"Marissa Cooper?"  she hears someone say from behind her.  She turns.  Standing before her is Seth Cohen.  Though it has been ten years since they graduated from high school, he still looks the same - lanky, dorky, and frenetic.

            "Cohen?"  she says in disbelief.  Though she knows he now lives in San Francisco, she is still surprised to have run into him in a little coffee shop in Pacific Heights.

            "In the flesh.  What are you doing in San Fran?  Shopping?"

            Marissa blushes then looks down at her feet.  "How did you know?" 

            "Some things never change."

            "Excuse me dude," a blonde guy says as he passes in between Marissa and Seth.  The coffee shop is crowded though only a few people have chosen to sit down inside.  Most have opted to grab their coffee and walk around outside in the bright sunshine, soaking in the cool breeze off the Bay. 

            "Would you like to sit down?"

            "Sure," Seth says shrugging.  Marissa notices the odd look he gives her but says nothing.  After purchasing their coffee, they make their way to a small wooden table at the rear of the shop.  Even back here, the smell of the Columbian roast and the sound of the coffee grinder are overpowering.

            "How is business?" Marissa asks then takes a sip of her mocha cappuccino.

            "Business is good," Seth says drawing his hands together in a triangle.  He stares pointedly at her.  He doesn't quite know what to make of Marissa.  "What's up with you?  My mom says you and Luke recently bought a house in Newport.  That must be exciting for you."

            "Not particularly," Marissa says then looks down at her hands.  She knows how contemptible Seth finds Newport society.  Truthfully, she hates the life of a society wife with its endless parties and charity events in between trips to the spa and the health club.  It could be a little much.  _No, she thinks disdainfully, __a lot much.  _

            Marissa shifts uncomfortably in her chair.  She studies the framed 1920s Parisian pop art posters on the dingy walls of the coffee shop.  It is obvious they are both avoiding talking about him.  His presence hangs in the air like the smell of spices in a Moroccan market.  "How is he?" she asks.  

            "_He?  He who?  My dad?  He's doing well.  Now that he's semi-retired, he gets to surf every day."_

            "Seth, you know who I'm talking about."

            Seth frowns at her and remains silent.  They sit trying to avoid looking at each other.  Seth's silence is deafening, it is even louder than the clinking of coffee cups against saucers and the thudding of coffee cups against wooden tables.  But finally, he breaks it.  "He's okay, not that you really care, but thanks for asking."

            "What is that suppose to mean?"

            "You know exactly what I mean Coop?"  He spits 'Coop' out like it's causing a bad taste in his mouth.  "He loved you, he still does."

            Marissa is stunned.  Ryan … still in love ... with her.  They'd only gone out for eight months and that was eleven years ago.  _And,_ it hadn't been she who had broken up with him; he'd broken up with her.  

            "Does he still work at the Public Defender's Office?"

            "Yeah.  My dad is delighted.  I own a billion dollar software/video game company but he's more excited about Ryan working as a public defender.  But hey, that's my dad," Seth says shaking his head.

            Marissa looks down at her watch.  "I'd better go, the next flight to LA leaves in an hour."

            "Sure.  Okay," Seth says then stands up.  Marissa stands up as well.  "It was nice running into you," he says then hesitantly reaches across the space between them and gives her a half hug.

            "Take care," she says then giving him a wan smile.  With that, she gathers her bags, turns and walks out of the coffee shop door.

***

            Marissa lets herself into her five million dollar white Mediterranean style home with its imported white Italian marble foyer.  She then walks over to the intercom and calls "Luke?"  No answer.  She slowly climbs the stairs to the master bedroom.  It is decorated in simple black and white, expensive yet functional, just as Luke likes it.  She sits on the edge of the bed with its black silk sheets and black Satin coverlet, slumps over, puts her head in her hands, and begins to cry.

            Ryan … still in love … with her.  She'd rather not have known.  All this time, she has taken comfort in the idea that he despises her.  She'd been devastated when he'd broken up with her.  She isn't sure what she'd felt for him was love, but there had been a certain kinship between them that had it been nurtured, could possibly have grown into something more.

            Marissa wipes her eyes then smiles.  She can still remember the night she turned to see this mysterious stranger smoking at the foot of the Cohens' driveway.  She'd been instantly drawn to him.  After a few misses, they'd finally gotten together.  In the beginning, it was perfect, like a dream, like a fairy tale.  Marissa can remember it even now – she and Ryan riding his bike along the pier, Ryan making her grill cheese sandwiches, she and Ryan skinny-dipping in the Cohens' pool.  Then unexpectedly, he'd broken up with her.  After that, they really didn't speak anymore.  Ryan went off to USC, and she'd spent two years at UCLA studying art history before dropping out to marry Luke.

            Luke.  She isn't sure sometimes how she feels about him.  He is handsome, wealthy, and he loves her.  For this reason and a host of others, she feels she should love him in return.  He'd asked her to marry him though she didn't have anything but her love to offer him.  Not only that, but he'd bankrolled her father's consulting firm.  _I owe him so much, _she thinks as she stands up and pads into the master bath.  Like the foyer, it too is made of imported Italian marble but instead of white, it's black with gold flecks.  Marissa bends over the circular imbedded bathtub and turns on the chrome faucets.  She grabs a bottle of chamomile bubble bath and pours some under the faucet.  She sits, leaning over the edge of the tub, swirling her hand in the water.

            Luke.  She knows that deep down he isn't as cocky and self-assured as he pretends to be.  In spite of his family's wealth, he is insecure and afraid that he doesn't quite measure up.  In some ways, he and Ryan are a lot alike.  

            Once the tub fills with water, Marissa turns the faucet off then stands.  She begins stripping off her clothes.  She catches a glimpse of herself in a mirror.  At times, she still feels like that tortured twenty-year-old girl she'd been when Luke married her but she didn't look the same.  But unlike the women she knew who at twenty-eight were rushing off to get Botox injections and tummy tucks, she has decided to grow old gracefully.

            Slowly Marissa eases herself into the hot bath, the foam bubbles enveloping her.  She sits and inhales the soothing smell of the chamomile.  She closes her eyes and imagines she is sixteen again, standing at the foot of her driveway just as a sandy-haired stranger appears at the end of the driveway next door.

            "Who are you?"  she asks.

            "Whomever you want me to be," he says then saunters over.

            This thought is immediately replaced by one of Luke jumping on stage at the Hollywood Bowl and proposing to her in front of tens of thousands of people.  Luke.  It always comes back to him.  She loved him once…maybe twice.  In a way, she knows she still does.  He is the father of her five-year-old daughter Lily after all.

            Lily is her greatest accomplishment.  If she can raise Lily with a minimum of childhood/adolescent problems/angst, she'd have done her job.  With Lily, she is able to experience those things that she'd never experienced with her own mother, things like swimming and walking in the rain, talking and laughing over lunch, enjoying each other's company.  

            Marissa closes her eyes, sinks deeper into the bath, then sighs.  If she hadn't had Lily, would she be more willing to leave Luke for Ryan?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Suddenly Marissa feels an overwhelming presence in the room.  Her eyes fly open and there standing before her is Luke looking down at her, a lascivious smile on his face.

            "Hello there," he says then bends down to kiss her.  He puts his hands on her shoulders, but then they begin to snake down the side of her arms until they touch the sides of her breasts.  The next thing she knows Luke's thumbs are flicking her nipples.

            "Luke, don't," she says sitting up.

            "Don't what? Touch my beautiful wife?  I can't help myself," he says then winks at her.

            "Hand me a towel," she says standing up.

            Luke goes to a stand in the bathroom and picks up a towel.  He makes as if he is going to throw the towel to her but decides not to.

            "Luke," Marissa says sternly.

            Luke's face clouds over in anger as he hands Marissa the towel.  "I have to go out of town on business this weekend."

            "Not again," Marissa says stepping out of the tub, wrapping the towel around herself.

            "What can I say?  This Microsoft case is huge.  If I win, I'm set to become the youngest partner in the firm's history."

            Marissa wants to say more but doesn't.  Besides, what can she say?  The money Luke makes from the firm pays for the house they live in, the car she drives, her father's consulting firm, Lily's private school, and her mother's trips to Paris.

***

            A month later, Marissa sits alone at her kitchen table.  She finds herself increasingly alone lately.  Luke is always away on business, and Lily spends a lot of time with Jimmy and Luke's parents.  This isn't the life she'd imagined for herself.  She'd imagined a house filled with love, with her and Luke laughing, talking, sharing, and making love but they didn't do any of those things much anymore.  It is times like these that Marissa catches herself thinking about Ryan.  What would her life be like if things had worked out between them?  Then an idea hits her and she picks up the cordless phone and dials.  After five rings, he finally answers.

            "Hello Jimmy Cooper speaking."

            "Daddy."

            "Marissa sweetheart, how are you?  How is Luke?"

            "We're both fine.  Actually, he's in Seattle working on this Microsoft case."

            "Well tell him if he needs any consulting work done to give me a call."

            "I will.  Daddy, I was hoping you could give me Kirsten Cohen's phone number."

            "Sure," Jimmy says.  "Are you and Luke looking for a new house already?"

            "No, but it doesn't hurt to see what's out there house wise."

            "That's true.  Real estate is really hot right now and Kirsten's the best."

            After Jimmy gives her the number, they talk for a few more minutes then she hangs up the phone.

            Marissa begins pacing across the floor.  She has never been particularly close to Kirsten and why would she?  But if anyone could help her now, it would be Kirsten or Sandy Cohen.

            Marissa takes a deep breath then picks up the phone and dials the Cohens' telephone number.  On the third ring, a male voice answers.

            "Hello, Cohen residence," he says.

            Marissa's mind goes blank.  _It's him._

            "Hello?  Cohen residence," he says more fervently.

            "Sorry.  Hello.  This is Marissa.  Marissa Cooper.  Jimmy Cooper's daughter.  I was wondering if Mrs. Cohen is there."

            There is a pause at the other end of the telephone line.  Then she hears him clearing his throat.  "Hey Marissa, this is Ryan.  Kirsten's out but I can take a message."

            "That's okay.  I'll call back later.  I just had some real estate questions."

            "Are you selling your house?"

            "No, no.  I just wanted to discuss the market.  Actually," Marissa stops.  Of course, this isn't true.  "I called to get your telephone number."  She holds her breath waiting for him to respond.

            "Really?  Do you need a lawyer?"

            "No.  I just wanted to see you.  Catch up on old times."

            "I see."

            "Do you, Ryan?  Do you really?"

            "Look Marissa, I don't think that's such a good idea.  I don't see the point.  You're married to Luke now and I'm not that same boy from Chino, that same forbidden fruit, I was when we were kids."

            Marissa remains silent.  How could she get him to understand that her feeling for him were real?

            "Ryan, I've never stopped thinking about you, wondering what might have been.  What if we are meant to be together?"

            "As I said before, you're married to Luke now.  What about him?  I'm sure he wouldn't approve of you calling me."

            "You're right, he wouldn't.  But what if this is fate?"

            "Fate is what you make it, and you've made yours," Ryan says then hangs up the phone.

            Marissa slumps into the nearest chair and cries.  _It's over_, she thinks.  _This was my last chance to see if Ryan and I belong together.  _She knows now that he is not the one who got away but the one who is irrevocably gone.


	2. Chapter 2

            Ryan Atwood enters the LA County Courthouse and rides the elevator to the fifth floor office he shares with three other guys.  Just as he is about to enter the office, he stops, stunned, because sitting in a chair next to his desk is Marissa Cooper.           

"Ryan," she says as soon as she sees him.  She stands.  "The guys went to lunch; they said I could wait for you.  I hope you don't mind."  He is awestruck.  His pulse quickens and his heart beats faster.  She is more beautiful than he remembers.  Her legs are still long and slender like a thoroughbred's and though she is as slight as ever, there is a fullness to her now that he finds sexy.

            "No, no, sit down," he says as he makes his way across the room and sits behind the desk.  "It's so nice to see you."

            "Is it?" she asks, a feeble smile spreading across her face.  "You hung up on me when I called you last week."

            He blushes.  "Sorry about that, I was just taken aback by what you said."

            "That's okay, I should apologize.  I probably should have prefaced what I said, even though I meant every word."

            "What do you want from me Marissa?  An affair?  I'm not that kinda guy.  I can't have you screwing me in the afternoon and going home to Luke at night.  So if that's why you're here, you can forget it."

            "No, that's not why I'm here.  Look, I don't love Luke anymore, at least not as a wife should," she says, an anguished look on her face.  "Don't get me wrong," she adds hastily.  "He's a good guy."

            "Really," Ryan says then laughs.  "You almost killed yourself after he cheated on you with Holly in TJ.  Now he's a good guy."

            Marissa looks away.  After taking a deep breath, she turns to face Ryan.  "Yes, he is.  Luke has changed.  He's a good person.  He married me even though my family was broke and disgraced.  He financed my father's consulting firm when no one would do business with him.  And," she pauses.  "He was there for me after you unceremoniously dumped me."

            He sighs.  He knew this was coming; it _always_ comes back to this.  He'd broken up with Marissa because girls like her didn't end up with guys like him.  Regardless of how hard he works, he can never provide her with the kind of life she deserves.  Someone like Luke, on the other hand, can.

            "You and I just weren't meant to be."

            "But how do you know that?" Marissa asks leaning forward in the chair.  

            "I just do."  After all, he thinks, his mother abandoned him when he was seventeen; and if your own mother doesn't love you enough to stick around, what other woman would?  "And what about your daughter?" he asks as he begins playing with a pen on his desk.

            "I've thought about her … a lot.  As you know," she begins her voice catching.  "I was devastated when my parents divorced."  She looks away embarrassed.  "It hurt even though I knew my mom didn't love my dad anymore.  But I realize now the divorce was for the best.  Now my dad has found someone who truly loves him.  I don't know what to do Ryan.  I want what I want and that's you but I also want to do what's best for everyone else.  I definitely don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what if," Marissa says then looks down at her hands.

            Ryan can see her body shaking; he rises, walks over, and places a comforting arm around her shoulders.  "What do you want me to do?" he says quietly.

            "For now, I just want you to hold me."


	3. Chapter 3

     Marissa quietly enters the house and slowly heads upstairs to the bedroom.  She is exhausted – physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Though she feels somewhat better after talking to Ryan, she still doesn't know what to do about Luke.  Just as she is about to step into the bedroom, she stops.  Sitting on the edge of the bed is Luke.

     "What are you doing home?"

     "Surprised," he says dryly.

     Marissa can tell that something is wrong.  "Yeah.  I thought you'd be at work.  But I'm glad you're home," she says then hesitantly walks over and pecks him on the cheek.

     "So," Luke lets the word out slowly.  "Where have you been?"

     "Been?  Shopping."

     "I don't see any bags," he says exaggeratedly looking around.

     Marissa's blood runs cold.  _Why is he asking me all_ _these questions_, she wonders.  _More importantly, why do I feel I need to lie?  _"The stuff was for my dad.  I dropped it off at his place on my way home."

     "That's not what Manny says."

     "Who?"

     "Oh, I didn't tell you about Manny.  It must have slipped my mind.  Manny is the private detective I hired to follow you."

     "What?!"  Marissa feels suddenly nauseous and faint.  _I must have misunderstood him_, she thinks frantically, _that's the only logical explanation_.  "Would you repeat that?"

     "I hired Manny to follow you."

     "Why?"

     "Because you've been a little distant lately.  So, where were you this afternoon?"

     Marissa walks across the room and slumps into a plush black chair.  "Apparently, you already know."

     "I want to hear it from you."

     "Luke, please."

     "Marissa, where were you this afternoon?"

     "I stopped by the Public Defender's Office to see Ryan Atwood.  Okay!  Are you satisfied?"

     "Why are you visiting Chino?  What purpose could that serve?  Are you sleeping with him?"

     "Luke, don't be ridiculous."

     "Excuse me for wondering why my wife went to see her ex-boyfriend."

     "It's not like that.  I ran into Seth Cohen a few months ago when I was in San Francisco and we got to talking about high school …," Marissa trails off.

     "Cohen, that fag.  What were you doing talking to him?"

     "Luke grow up."

     "Grow up!  Grow up!  I'm grown up enough to pay the mortgage on this house.  I'm grown up enough to pay your car notes."

     "Luke."

     "I'm grown up enough to finance your dad's consulting firm."

     "Enough!"

     "Let's get a few things straight.  You are never to see Atwood again.  If you do, I'll divorce you, leave you with nothing, and petition the courts for sole custody of Lily."

     "No!" Marissa says rising.

     "Try me," Luke says then storms out of the bedroom.  A few minutes later, Marissa hears the front door slam.

     _Damn, damn, damn_, she thinks as she slumps back into the chair.  She doesn't want Luke's money.  But what would she do without her daughter?  And Jimmy, how would her father's business survive without Luke's financing?  _Oh god, oh god_, Marissa thinks as she slides to the floor.  _What am I going to do?_


	4. Chapter 4

            Marissa Cooper-Ward paces the floor of the Newport Beach Country Club ballroom.  She is trying to refrain from grabbing Summer Roberts by the neck and throttling her.  Not only does Summer arrive twenty minutes late for the charity fashion show planning committee meeting, but she's been uncooperative since she's arrived.  There is a murmur of activity around them as they talk.  While the other planning committee members sit talking, drinking coffee, and eating finger sandwiches and pastries, the club staff are rearranging tables, chairs, and laying out linen for an event the country club is hosting later that night.

            "Christ Summer, what's wrong with Kelly's idea?"

            "Absolutely everything.  No offense," Summer says turning to Kelly.

            "Yeah right," Kelly says stomping away.

            "Some people just can't take constructive criticism," Summer says huffily.

            "Do you have a better idea?" Marissa asks as she puts a hand on her hip.

            "No, but how hard can it be?"

            "Summer, I need to get home."

            "What's your hurry?  I know you're not rushing home to cook dinner.  That's what the housekeeper is for."

            "Lily has ballet class."

            "Oh."  The way Summer says the word makes Marissa's flesh crawl.  There is something almost odious in it.

            "Is there a problem?" she asks. Marissa knows she sounds testy but she doesn't care.  She has given Summer more than enough leeway today.

            "Nothing," Summer says in a singsong voice.

            "What?"

            "It's just that I never would have guessed you'd become so domestic.  You were so wild in high school.  Remember that time you got so drunk at Holly's party you passed out," Summer says then stops.  "Of course not, you were passed out."  She starts laughing.

            "Some of us have grown up."

            "Meaning I haven't."

            "Just forget it Summer."

            "No, you brought this up Coop."

            "Now I'm saying forget it," Marissa says then turns and begins walking away.

            "That was always your problem, you never could deal with conflict."  For a second Marissa is stunned.  Summer was there when her parents had divorced, when she'd tried to kill herself, when Ryan had broken up with her.

            Marissa turns quickly around to face her.  "I feel sorry for you Summer.  You're basically the same person you were in high school.  It's really sad to think you haven't changed a bit in ten years."

            "Well Luke doesn't think it's so sad."  
            The hairs on the back of Marissa's neck go stiff.  "What does Luke have to do with this?"

            "Nothing," Summer says with a hateful smile.

            "What does Luke have to do with this?" Marissa says louder as she grabs Summer by the arm.  A few of the other planning committee members turn to stare.

            "Get your fucking hands off me."

            "What does Luke have to do with this?"

            "I guess he forgot to tell you; we've been sleeping together for the past six months."

            "Bitch," Marissa says then slaps Summer squarely across the face.

            "Bitch?  That's how you thank me for keeping your man satisfied.  C'mon, you honestly didn't think he'd been traveling to Seattle on business all those times."

            "I've always been a friend to you.  How could you do something so vile to me?" Marissa says near tears.

            "Me, me, me.  It's always about you, isn't it Marissa?" Summer says venom oozing in her voice.  "Well for once, it wasn't about you.  I was the one who was able to give Luke something he wanted."

            "What are you talking about Summer?  For as long as I can remember, you have always been the center of attention."

            "But all the guys liked you better – Luke, his friends, Ryan, even that guy who used to live next door to you," Summer says, her voice growing tired.  

            "Seth was crazy about you but you treated him like shit.  As for Ryan, you never even tried getting to know him.  Summer, if you aren't happy, then you have no one to blame but yourself.  Maybe you shouldn't be such a bitch.  Then again, someone's gotta be the bitch, right?"

            The room suddenly goes quiet.  Everyone is staring at them now.  Marissa pulls herself together, grabs her bag, and walks out of the ballroom.

            Her first impulse is to light a cigarette but she doesn't have any in that she's been nicotine-free for five years.  Instead, she heads for the beach.

            It's crowded today but she doesn't mind.  In fact, she finds all the noise and activity soothing.  The rollerbladers are gliding along the sidewalk.  People are laughing, running, and shouting.  She can smell and almost taste the earthiness of the sand and the fishiness coming off the ocean.  But as she walks along the shore, all she can think about is Luke and Summer.  It pains her to think about what they did to her.  _Are doing to her._

            One of the sad things is, she isn't surprised that Summer stabbed her in the back.  Growing up, she'd always witnessed Summer's mean side but because Summer had been her friend, she'd chosen to ignore it.  But Luke!  For all his self-righteous indignation about her cheating with Ryan, he'd been cheating with Summer all along.  _Bastard_, she thinks as she stops to watch the boats zoom by.  But at least now, she can do what she should have done a long time ago.


	5. Chapter 5

                Marissa is sitting at the kitchen table when Luke arrives home from work.  The kitchen with its large windows that face the ocean is sunny and bright and smells like pine.  There is a warmthness to the room brought out by its light-colored wooden countertops and the copper pots hanging from the ceiling.  Usually, it smells like baked bread or cookies but today Marissa has given Monica, the housekeeper and cook, the afternoon off.

                "Hey, hon," Luke says as he walks over and kisses Marissa on the cheek.

                She draws back repulsed but Luke doesn't notice.

                "How was your day?" he asks as he walks over to the refrigerator and opens the door.  "Where is Monica?  She's supposed to have dinner ready," he says as he bends down and looks in the refrigerator.

                "I gave her the afternoon off."

                "Why did you do that?"

                "Luke, we need to talk."

                "Can't it wait?  I'm starving and I need to go back to the office tonight.  The Microsoft case, you know."

                "It's funny you should mention the Microsoft case."

                "Why?" Luke says giving her a startled look.

                _You ought to be scared, _Marissa thinks as she walks over to the counter in the center of the room.  "I wasn't aware that Bill Gates had stepped down as chairman of Microsoft and that Summer Roberts had taken his place."

                "What are you talking about?" Luke asks then laughs nervously.

                "Cut the crap Luke.  I know."

                "What?!  I swear I don't know what you're talking about.  Are you feeling okay?"  He turns to her with a concerned look on his face.

                "Luke."

                "Babe, you're acting really strange and you're scaring me."  He walks over and attempts to put his arms around her but Marissa steps out of the way.

                "Don't you dare touch me.  I know about you and Summer.  All those weekends you were supposed to be away on business, you were really having an affair with Summer yet you accused me of having an affair with Ryan Atwood."

                "Atwood!  Atwood!  Now this all makes sense.  You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"

                "Luke, I'm leaving you and I'm taking Lily with me.  We'll be at my father's house."  Marissa turns then starts walking out of the house.

                "You'll be sorry.  I'll divorce your ass.  You'll have nothing, not a dime, and I'll file for sole custody of Lily."

                Marissa turns to face Luke, her eyes flashing with anger, her body stiff.  Her voice, however, is calm.  "You can do that if you want to.  In fact, if you don't file for divorce, I definitely will.  But with respect to our daughter, I wouldn't piss me off if I were you.  I'm prepared to share custody with you.  But consider this, what judge would give sole custody to a lying, cheating, backstabbing jerk like you?"

                "But …."

                "But nothing.  I have witnesses who will testify to Summer's story.  There are enough people in this town who hate both you and Summer and would love nothing more than to bring you both down," Marissa says then turns and walks out of the kitchen.  She can hear Luke following behind her.  

"Marissa, baby, c'mon.  Can't we talk about this?"

These are the last words she hears as she slams the door shut and heads to her car.  Already in the trunk of her convertible are a few of her and Lily's things, things she'd packed while waiting for Luke to come home.  She opens the car door and gets into the driver's seat.  She takes a deep breath then begins to cry.  Hot tears stream down her face as she backs out of the driveway and heads toward the highway.

                She knows she has made the right decision.  She refuses to let her daughter grow up in a house where Mommy and Daddy don't love each other, a house where Mommy becomes bitter and resentful and Daddy lies and cheats.  As for Jimmy, Marissa senses he'll be okay.  In the ten years since he'd stolen all that money from his friends and neighbors, he's regained _almost_ everyone's trust with his new business.  Besides, he doesn't have her mother pushing him to make more money without any thought as to where it comes from.

                Before she knows it, Marissa pulls in front of an apartment complex on Melrose.  Suddenly she is seized with simultaneous feelings of fear and well-being.  If she is to be happy, she must do this.  Even if he rejects her, at least she tried.  Marissa enters the building.  As she is coming in, a guy is coming out.  He gives her the once over and smiles before holding the security door open for her.  She walks over to the bank of elevators and pushes the 'up' button.  She waits for what seems like an eternity, but finally the doors open.  She steps inside and pushes the button for the third floor.  Slowly the elevator rises.  When the doors open, Marissa finds herself in a hallway with six apartments on each side.  She makes her way down the hall looking for Apt 7.  Behind the door of 7, she can hear the Sex Pistols's "God Save the Queen" playing. She takes a breath then knocks loudly on the door.  A few seconds later, the music is turned off and she can hear footsteps approaching the door, then she hears two deadbolt locks being unlocked.

                The door opens.  "Marissa, what … ."

                "I've left Luke."

                "Huh?"  Ryan is dumbstruck.

                "We're getting a divorce."

                "Are you sure?  Come in first."

                Marissa follows Ryan into the apartment.  Though she has never been in it, it looks oddly familiar, then she realizes that it is furnished entirely with Kirsten and Sandy's old furniture.

                "Where did you get my address?" Ryan asks as he gestures for her to sit down.

                "One guess," she says then smiles.  "When I told him I was leaving Luke, a little elf gave me your address and primo shares in a billion dollar video game company.  In fact, he assures me the shares will double in value in about four weeks."

                "Seth."

                "Seth."

                "So, exactly why are you divorcing Luke?" Ryan says as he sits down in a chair across from her.

                "Number one, I don't love him anymore; and number two, unlike you, Luke is not unwilling to cheat."

                "I'm not surprised," Ryan says then stops.  "Sorry.  Are you sure you're not just on the rebound?"

                "Ryan, I've loved you from the first moment I saw you.  I still don't understand exactly why you broke up with me.  And don't give me that 'I'm from Chino, you're from Newport Beach' stuff because you know that doesn't matter to me."

                "How would you have known if all you've ever had was Newport?  How can I be sure that after a few months with me, you won't go running back to Luke and Newport?"

                "Well, a friend once told me that we make our own fate," she says rising slowly and walking seductively over to him.

                "But…," Ryan begins but stops.  Marissa's allure is too much for him to handle.  He begins to feel warm, flush.

                "But what?" she asks as she leans over him and puts an arm on each side of his head.  

                "Is it getting a little hot in here to you?  Maybe I should turn up the air conditioning," he says as he makes a move to rise.

                "Oh no you don't," Marissa says pushing him back down.  "Answer me.  But what?  Did you or did you not say we make our own fate.  Or," she says as a gut-wrenching look flashes across her face.  "Is it that you don't want to align your fate with a poor single mother with a five-year-old daughter?" she says then stands straight.  She feels herself caving emotionally.  The tears are forming behind her eyes.  She turns and begins to walk away.  All she can think about is escape before she makes a bigger fool of herself.  

                But before she can get away, Ryan grabs her hand and draws her close.  "From what I hear on the streets, a certain soon-to-be single mother who I'm sure has a beautiful five-year-old daughter will be coming into a huge payday because a gaming fairy gave her primo shares in a video game software company that will produce a huge return in, what did you say, four weeks.  The question is, is this soon-to-be single mother willing to align her fate with that of a lowly public defender?"

                "If that public defender is you, then 'yes'," she says then kisses him squarely on the mouth.  Marissa suddenly feels the kind of joy usually reserved for those returning home after a long, arduous journey.  She is both comforted and overwhelmed by Ryan's scent, his kisses, his arms around her, and his unquestionable, undying love for her.


End file.
